January 14, 2015
M ARTIN L UTHER K ING J R .
2015 special edition
Page 33
S PORTS
Great Season Ends in Texas
Ohio State
pushes past
Ducks in
title game
(AP) — Ohio State can add
the newest version of the na-
tional championship trophy to a
case that already has a bunch of
the old ones.
The Buckeyes' third-stringer
matched Oregon's Heisman win-
ner as Cardale Jones led Ohio
State past Marcus Mariota and
the Ducks 42-20 in the first Col-
lege Football Playoff national
championship game Monday
night at the $1.2 billion home of
the Dallas Cowboys in Arling-
ton, Texas.
Behind their bullish backup
quarterback and the relentless
running of Ezekiel Elliott, the
Buckeyes (14-1) completed a
remarkable in-season turnaround Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott runs during the second half of the NCAA college football playoff championship game against Oregon
Monday in Arlington, Texas. The Buckeyes overcame four turnovers to beat the Ducks, 42-20. (AP photo)
with a dominating performance
against the Ducks (13-2).
"The chase is complete," Ohio
State coach Urban Meyer said.
"It's done. It's over. They ac-
cepted their final mission, their
final assignment and their final
directive, and they did it. That
was our whole mantra this last
couple of weeks. A job well
done, and we're very grateful."
Ohio State began the first
major college football playoff as
the fourth and final seed, and as
a team that faced questions about
whether it belonged at all. It was
a team that never would have
had a chance to win a title under
the old postseason system.
No question about it now: Ohio
State is the truest champion big-
time college football has ever
crowned, showered by golden
confetti as its band played "Hang
on Sloopy" when the clock hit
0:00.
Elliott, a sophomore, was the
offensive MVP and ran for 246
yards and four touchdowns on
36 carries. In the last three games
against Wisconsin, Alabama and
Oregon, Elliott had 696 yards
rushing.
continued
on page 37